On April 6, 2022 Carina reported that has had five abstracts accepted for poster presentations at the AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting which will take place from April 8 to April 13 (Press release, Carina Biotech, APR 6, 2022, View Source [SID1234611488]).

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The poster presentations come after Carina’s recent submission of a pre-IND package to the FDA for Carina’s LGR5 CAR-T cell for the treatment of patients with advanced colorectal cancer.

HIGHLIGHTS

Five conference abstracts will be presented as poster presentations at AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) in the immuno-oncology and preclinical immunotherapy sessions
Four presentations describe preclinical data from Carina’s LGR5-targeted CAR-T cell program, one poster will describe preclinical data from Carina’s ADAM-10 CAR-T program
With its LGR5 CAR-T, Carina is progressing towards a first-in-human clinical trial in patients with advanced colorectal cancer
Colorectal cancer is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australia and in the United States, and the second leading cause of cancer death in Australia
Carina’s five presentations and their authors are:

Session OPO.CL06.01 – Immuno-oncology
(April 8, 2022, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM CDT) Abstract online
5183 – LGR5 CAR-T cells: A novel potential treatment against high grade serous ovarian cancer authors B Wanqi Wang, Veronika Bandara, Noor Lokman, Silvana Napoli, Batjargal Gundsambuu, Martin Oehler, Simon Barry, Carmela Ricciardelli
Session OPO.IM02.01 – Preclinical immunotherapy
(April 8, 2022, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM CDT) Abstract online
5575 – Pre-clinical validation of a LGR5-targeting CAR-T against colorectal cancer authors Veronika Bandara, Stuart Mills, Emma Thompson, Lih Tan, Batjargal Gundsambuu, Silvana Napoli, Jade Foeng, Dylan McPeake, Justin Coombs, Allison Cowin, Claudine Bonder, Timothy Sadlon, Shaun McColl, Simon Barry
Session OPO.IM02.01 – Preclinical immunotherapy
(April 8, 2022, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM CDT) Abstract online
5574 – In vivo characterisation of a novel CAR-T cell therapy directed towards LGR5 for the treatment of colorectal cancer authors Dylan McPeake, Timona Tyllis, Jade Foeng, Veronika Bandara, Caitlin Abbott, Batjargal Gundsambuu, Elaheh Rohani-Rad, Silvana Napoli, Timothy Sadlon, Simon Barry, Shaun McColl
Session OPO.CL06.01 – Immuno-oncology
(April 8, 2022, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM CDT) Abstract online
5184 – Real-time cytotoxicity assays as a pre-clinical screening tool for LGR5-targeting CAR-T cells for treatment of solid tumors authors Emma Thompson, Veronika Bandara, Timothy Sadlon, Batjargal Gundsambuu, Lih Yin Tan, Carmela Ricciardelli, Simon Barry, Claudine Bonder
Session OPO.IM02.01 – Preclinical immunotherapy
(April 8, 2022, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM CDT) Abstract online
5505 – ADAM10-targeting CAR-T cells inhibit colon cancer cell growth in vivo authors Elaheh Rohani Rad, Jade Foeng, Dylan McPeake, Timona Tyllis, Caitlin Abbott, Veronika Bandara, Silvana Napoli, Batjargal Gundambuu, Timothy Sadlon, Simon Barry, Shaun McColl

About LGR5
LGR5 is a cancer stem cell marker that is highly expressed on advanced colorectal cancer and some other cancers. In colorectal cancer patients, LGR5+ expression has been correlated with a particularly poor prognosis.

Cancer stem cells are a small sub-population of cells within a tumour with the ability to self-renew, differentiate into the many cell types of a tumour, initiate new tumours, and resist chemotherapy and radiotherapy (leading to relapses).

By targeting cancer stem cells, it is hoped that this therapy will reduce the tumour’s ability to generate new cancer cells, resulting in durable tumour suppression and preventing the relapses that are very common in patients with colorectal cancer.

Carina’s pre-clinical studies of the LGR5-targeted CAR-T cell have shown highly promising results with complete tumour regression and no tumour recurrence. They have also demonstrated impressive tumour access and prolonged CAR-T cell survival.

On April 5, 2022 Asgard Therapeutics AB ("Asgard") reported that, in cooperation with the consortium members, Lund University, InSphero and Antineo, it has officially kicked-off the earlier announced Eurostars project (Press release, Asgard Therapeutics, APR 5, 2022, View Source [SID1234614857]). The project REPRogramming tumors INTo immune cells: a revolutionary gene therapy to treat cancer (REPRINT) will focus on providing definitive proof-of-principle for the use of the novel cancer immunotherapy TrojanDC developed by Asgard for the treatment of hard-to-treat solid tumors.

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Asgard, a private biotech company based in Lund, Sweden, is developing a paradigm-shifting cancer immunotherapy approach, based on its proprietary TrojanDC technology, to reinstate cancer immunogenicity. TrojanDC is a gene therapy that reprograms cancer cells into type-1 conventional dendritic cells, allowing the presentation of their own antigens to the immune system, thereby eliciting potent anti-cancer immune responses. In the context of this grant, Asgard collaborates with the partners to validate TrojanDC’s efficacy in ex vivo human spheroid models and 3D bioprinted models as well as in vivo rodent models. In vivo safety and pharmacology evaluation of TrojanDC will also be performed, bringing the gene therapy closer to IND-ready stage.

The Eurostars programme supports innovative international projects led by R&D-performing SMEs and is co-funded by the Eurostars partner states and the EU (through Horizon 2020). In October 2021, Asgard announced that together with three other partners it has been awarded the Eurostars project REPRINT (project number E!115376). The project started in 2021 October 1st with an online meeting but now the partners were able to meet in-person for an official kick-off event, held at Smile Incubator, Lund and hosted by Asgard. The three-year proposal was ranked #4 out of 644 European applications for Eurostars Cut off 15, and thereby secured a grant of 2 million euros.

Cristiana Pires, PhD, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Asgard Therapeutics, said: "The kick-off event was a great success! We had the chance to discuss the first results of the project and align on the next steps to use the Eurostars grant to further validate TrojanDC efficacy and safety. TrojanDC preclinical development will be accelerated within this grant allowing us to explore its game-changing properties. Designed as an off-the-shelf gene therapy, TrojanDC induces a personalized immune response, and thus overcomes many of the logistic and manufacturing hurdles of conventional cell-based therapies."

Filipe Pereira head of the Cell Reprogramming in Hematopoiesis Group of the LSCC commented: "The Pereira lab was excited to meet all partners of this multidisciplinary collaboration with academic and industrial partners. We are grateful to join forces paving the way for an entirely new cancer immunotherapy platform based on cellular reprogramming. By bringing our knowledge in ex-vivo and in-vivo dendritic cell reprogramming we will help advancing the pre-clinical development of an off-the-shelf gene therapy for cancer. We are keen to explore and unravel new possibilities of the cDC1 reprogramming approach developed at our lab!"

Wolfgang Moritz, Head of Ext. Collaborations and IP at InSphero AG commented: "InSphero is pleased to be part of this exciting project aiming at a ground-breaking new therapeutic approach for a variety of different cancer indications. During the meeting, we had an interesting discussion on our first steps in the project and coordinated the development activities with other consortium members. Our 3D in vitro technology will be used in the project to evaluate the clinical benefits, but also characterize the safety profile associated with the reprogramming process and induced immune responses. InSphero’s goal is to develop a new in vitro platform for simultaneous testing of on- and off- target effects of novel immuno-therapy strategies to cure cancer."

Elsa Kress, CBO of Antineo, said: "Antineo is thrilled to be involved in the preclinical development of such a game-changing therapy! It will be a great opportunity for us to develop ex vivo assays based on 3D-bioprinting tumoral and non tumoral cells. It will add a new, innovative and 3R-compliant are of preclinical services."

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In-person kick-off meeting of the Eurostars-funded REPRINT project. Top row from left to right: Ervin Aščić (Lund University), Hreinn Benónísson (Lund University), Michele Tavecchio (Asgard Therapeutics), André Rosa (Asgard Therapeutics). Middle row from left to right: Elsa Kress (Antineo), Irina Agarkova (Insphero), Michal Rudnik (Insphero), Olga Zimmermannova (Lund University), Nadezhda Rotankova (Insphero). Bottom row from left to right: Sanne Lock (Catalyze), Wolfgang Moritz (Insphero), Filipe Pereira (Lund University), Fritiöf Åkerström (Asgard Therapeutics), Cristiana Pires (Asgard Therapeutics), Malavika Nair (Lund University), Fábio Rosa (Asgard Therapeutics).

On April 5, 2022 Iktos, a company specialized in Artificial Intelligence (AI) for new drug design, and Teijin Pharma Limited, the core company of the Teijin Group’s healthcare business that provides comprehensive healthcare services to improve the quality of life, reported a strategic collaboration agreement in Artificial Intelligence for new drug design (Press release, Iktos, APR 5, 2022, View Source [SID1234613367]).

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Under the agreement, Iktos generative modelling technology will be implemented and applied to several Teijin Pharma’s small molecule drug discovery projects to expedite the identification of potential pre-clinical candidates. Iktos and Teijin Pharma will collaborate in developing new AI technology aiming to bring further improvement and speed to the drug design process, leveraging Iktos’ proprietary know-how in AI for Computer Aided Drug Design (CADD) and complementing Teijin’s research and development capabilities.

In the recent years, Iktos has emerged as one of the world leaders in AI for drug design, establishing multiple collaborations with renowned pharmaceutical companies and successfully developing the AI software platforms Makya for new drug design and Spaya for synthesis planning. Iktos’ generative AI technology, based on deep generative models, automatically designs virtual novel molecules presenting the desirable characteristics specified by the researchers. This approach brings unprecedented efficiency in the exploration of chemical space and produces innovative molecule designs with greater freedom to operate. It is a novel solution, validated through many collaborations, to one of the key challenges in drug design: the rapid identification of molecules that simultaneously satisfy multiple parameters, such as potency, selectivity, safety, and project-specific properties.

Based on the recent drastic demographic change and increased health consciousness, Teijin Pharma is committed to providing healthcare solutions in the priority fields of bone, joint, rehabilitation, neurology, respiratory, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Creating innovative drugs is one of the company’s core business strategies and Teijin Pharma is now focusing on strengthening technological foundation for small molecule drugs that play major roles among the drug modalities for innovative drug discovery.

"We are thrilled and proud to announce a strategic collaboration with Teijin Pharma, a leading company that contributes to society by providing advanced healthcare solutions.’’ said Yann Gaston-Mathé, Co-founder and CEO of Iktos. "It is a major recognition for Iktos to be selected by Teijin Pharma as a strategic partner for implementation, development, and application of generative modeling technology for new drug design. Iktos has been a pioneer in the application of generative models for drug discovery and is recognized as a world leader in the technology space that has the potential to disrupt the way new therapeutics are designed.’’ "Our ultimate objective is to expedite drug discovery and achieve time and cost efficiencies for our global collaborators by using Iktos’s proprietary AI platform and know-how. We are confident that together with our Teijin collaborators, we will be able to develop new technology to bring further speed and efficiency to drug discovery."

"We are delighted to create innovative new small molecule drugs together with Iktos," said Ichiro Watanabe, President of Teijin Pharma. "We provide solutions in the field of demographic change and increased health consciousness and are focusing on the launch of new drugs. Iktos’ proprietary AI technology will dramatically accelerate our small molecule drug discovery. We continue to enhance patients’ quality of life by providing new treatment options for diseases with high unmet needs."

On April 5, 2022 Light Chain Bioscience reported The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) will host its Annual Meeting April 8-13, 2022 (Press release, Light Chain Bioscience, APR 5, 2022, View Source [SID1234611832]). Light Chain Bioscience is very pleased to have Xavier Chauchet attend in-person.

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Xavier will be presenting two posters #3225 and #3283 describing differentiating CD47xPD-L1 bispecific #antibody approaches, NI-2601 & NI-2901.

"NI-2601, an Fc-active CD47xPD-L1 bispecific antibody that selectively targets CD47 on PD-L1-positive tumors" (#3283) will be exposed and presented on April 12 between 1:30-5:00 p.m.

↠ Read 1st poster – Poster section 32 [PDF]:

aacr 2022 ni 2901 cd47xpd l1 bispecific antibody for dual immune checkpoint blockade 2601

"NI-2901, a CD47xPD-L1 bispecific antibody for dual immune checkpoint blockade with fine-tuned affinity to reduce erythrocyte binding and improve biodistribution" (#3225) will be exposed and presented on April 12 between 1:30-5:00 p.m.

↠ Read 2nd poster – Poster section 32 [PDF] :

aacr 2022 ni 2901 cd47xpd l1 bispecific antibody for dual immune checkpoint blockade 2901

Ernest N. Morial Convention Center New Orleans, Louisiana

900 Convention Center Blvd, New Orleans, LA 70130, United States

On April 5, 2022 Biogen Inc. (Nasdaq:BIIB) reported it will report first quarter 2022 financial results Tuesday, May 3, 2022, before the financial markets open (Press release, Biogen, APR 5, 2022, View Source [SID1234611518]).

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Following the release of the financials, the Company will host a live webcast with Biogen management at 8:00 a.m. ET. To access the live webcast, please go to the investors section of Biogen’s website at investors.biogen.com. Following the live webcast, an archived version of the call will be available on the website.